On the Frontier's Edge
by Cormag Ravenstaff
Summary: She'd soon realize that the frontier town hardly needed a school teacher. With vagabonds on the prowl, what it really needed was a sheriff. Byleth said she'd never pin that star on herself again. But with the help of a bartender, a mayor, a gunslinger and a host of other misfits, she'd shape the town up into something worth living in. Western AU. Slow-burn romances.


**Why am I writing this instead of the other two projects I have?**

**Because Joe Zieja uploaded a western sounding cover of Edge of Dawn. So uh, here you go.**

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A gentle gale brushed against her as she neared the end of her journey. Noonday sun bore down on her as buildings began to line either side of her. Her horse slowly clopped down the thoroughfare.

Garreg Mach Township. The furthest west township and the only town in the county. As her father had called it, a 'backend shithole in the middle of nowhere'.

No one wandered the streets. Byleth wondered if everyone had just given up and left, throwing away their dreams of gold, riches and freedom. The first two weren't easy to come by and the third cost the first two.

Her horse trotted up toward what she could only assume was the town's saloon: the Sloppy Bitch. Her unimpressed eyes flickered over the worn sign before she slung herself off the horse and gave its head a loving pat.

Byleth swung open the doors to the saloon. The sun cast her a long shadow, her brown duster giving her an imposing silhouette. She removed her Stetson and stepped in.

Despite the name, the saloon was well kept. Empty tables littered the main floor while stairs continued the establishment upwards to a second floor. One wall was completely lined with trophies of deer, one of which much bigger than all the rest.

"Well, I haven't seen your face around here before."

Byleth swiveled to the bar. A man stood behind it, wiping a glass. He wore a black suit complete with a yellow vest. Were it a shade or three lighter, she might have thought he were a bumblebee. His hair was brushed back with a single rebellious strand arching over his forehead.

"New in town," she answered his unasked question. Byleth sat at the bar and said, "Whiskey."

She reached for her wallet but the man waved a hand. "No money. This shot only costs your name."

"Byleth Eisner." He slid the shot towards her and she knocked it back. The burn down her throat was all too familiar. "And yours?" she rasped.

"Claude Riegan," he said. "Welcome to Garreg Mach, Miss Byleth."

"Happy to be here. I suppose you can direct me to where the school house is?"

"I can," he said with a new flicker of interest in his eyes. "You're the new teach that the mayor hired, then?"

"The one and only."

The saloon doors opened and the sharp clack of boots hit wood. Claude's easygoing smile soured and Byleth turned around. A burley man that smelled like booze stood there, dressed in furs and holding a rifle. A Wyvern, an old fashioned model.

"Kostas…" Claude probed.

"Doesn't have to be difficult, Riegan," he said, eyes unfocused. "Lockbox, and I leave." He looked at Byleth and nodded. "Ma'am."

"For fuck's sake," growled someone else. Byleth turned her gaze towards a man she'd previously overlooked, a man wearing a black poncho and an eyepatch. His shaggy blond hair obscured part of his face. "You're a menace."

Kostas turned toward him. "Dimitri, you just stay there. Not even you are fast enough to outdraw me from sitting down."

Dimitri grunted, but didn't move.

"Now, Kostas, we can be civil men, can't we?" Claude said. Kostas cocked his rifle and pointed it at Claude. The bartender stopped walking around his bar and slowly put his hands up.

Byleth felt the Pegasi in its holster against her thigh. If Claude kept his attention…

"Lockbox. Now." Kostas blinked a few times, clearly drunker than he made himself out to be.

"Yessir." Claude nodded and slowly bent down behind his counter. Kostas craned his neck, keeping Claude in his sight.

But he didn't keep Byleth in his.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

Three shots, one to the chest, one to the abdomen and one to the kneecap for good measure. Kostas fell to the ground, without a word.

Dimitri stood up, hand immediately going for his gun before realizing that it wasn't Kostas that had shot. He whistled and walked over.

Claude's eyes had lost all their apprehensiveness and had morphed into admiration. "You said you were a school teacher?"

"Eisner…" muttered Dimitri. He looked over at her. "You related to Jeralt Eisner?"

"He's my father," she said.

"Who?" Claude asked, looking lost.

"Marshal Eisner, finest gunslinger on the frontier. Fought in the Adrestian wars as a hired gun and is best hand on the draw I've ever seen," Dimitri said, a note of admiration in his voice. "Looks like he taught you a thing or two."

The saloon door busted open again with a haphazardly put together woman. A shiny deputy badge glimmered with the sun. She had a Pegasi revolver in her hand and panted from a run.

"Just in time, deputy," Claude snarked.

"Kostas again?" she said, taking her hat off. "Damn, least he's not a problem anymore."

"Courtesy of our new teacher." Claude gestured to Byleth. "This is Ms. Eisner."

"Fantastic work, Ms. Eisner. My name is Catherine, it's a welcome pleasure to have you in this town. Goddess knows we need someone who is a good shot after our last sheriff bit the bullet."

Dimitri flicked a coin to Claude and left.

"Garreg Mach is without a sheriff?" she asked. "What happened to the last one?"

Claude and Catherine both looked to where Dimitri left. Catherine coughed. "Lambert ran afoul of some loyalists of the last Adrestian war. It didn't end well."

"Catherine, why don't you take our new teach here to meet the mayor?" Claude asked. He looked at Kostas' body. "I'll drag Hilda out of bed to help me clean this up. Goddess knows how she slept through all that. Also, find Hubert and send him over here after you've dropped her off. I'm not burying a body."

"Sure thing, Claude." Catherine looked toward Byleth. "Let's go get you with the mayor and get you settled."

They strode into the street, Catherine plying her with questions the entire time. How had she become a teacher? Why had she picked Garreg Mach? Was she related to Jeralt Eisner? Where did she learn to shoot? And on and on and on.

Byleth avoided most of the questions. Catherine didn't seem to mind, bouncing off to another as soon as one fell flat.

"Well, here ya are." Byleth stood outside of a building in the center of town. It looked to be one of the smallest in town.

"Thank you," Byleth said, reaching out a hand to shake.

Catherine grabbed it firmly. "Mention what you did in the saloon to her, won't you?"

Byleth nodded and walked in.

The mayor's building was nothing grand. Byleth had seen prisons with more flair. There was a rather cluttered desk that had far too much paperwork on it. There sat the woman in charge.

"Mayor Hresvelg?" Byleth said, announcing her presence.

She looked up, wearing a suit similar to Claude's, though hers had red coloring instead of yellow. She wore a cravat and wore her hair half up immaculately. "And you are?"

"Byleth Eisner. We corresponded several weeks ago."

The mayor's eyes lit up. "Ah, excellent. I'm Edelgard, mayor of Garreg Mach. I hope that shooting I heard earlier didn't frighten you away. Gunshots aren't uncommon in this town."

Byleth chuckled. "No worries, that was just me stopping a robbery. Catherine asked me to mention that to you."

Edelgard paused as she reached for a piece of paper. "That was you shooting?"

Byleth ran through the situation, reciting it with an ease that came from delivering such reports frequently. Edelgard listened carefully, waiting for her to finish.

When she did, Edelgard leaned back. "So you weren't always a teacher."

"I'll admit, I've never been a teacher. But I saw the listing in the paper and was in the need of getting away from some things."

The mayor leafed through a stack of papers until she found an old newspaper. She held up a picture and article that read 'REMIRE CALAMITY'. There was a picture of her.

"This you?"

Byleth shifted uncomfortably. Was that her? Of course. She'd been sheriff of the town during the calamity. Over ninety dead. That they'd been able to find.

"I came to this town to get away from that." Her tone was neutral.

Edelgard nodded. "I won't fault you for that. And I won't question you on that. Your business is yours alone. Freedom isn't cheap out here, I'll have you know."

Byleth frowned. "Do you even want a teacher?"

"I want a teacher, but I need a sheriff. Our deputy isn't a leader, she's just not fit to the task. Catherine's a good shot and loyal, but we need someone more…" she searched for a word, "multi-faceted. Catherine would shoot every criminal and call it good. Which, I am not entirely opposed to. But I'd rather have a more even head on a sheriff's shoulders."

Byleth said nothing. So Edelgard continued.

"I understand that you probably don't wish to get back involved with the law with what you're running from. But I don't see a school teacher in you. I see a killer, someone with a thirst for justice and righting the wrongs of the world."

"Awfully presumptuous of you, to assume I'm a killer," Byleth remarked. She didn't deny it.

Edelgard patted the article. "I've done my homework. I had a hunch. The daughter of Jeralt Eisner saw her fair share of the limelight."

"Maybe I'm running from that too."

"Then you won't find it here. No newspaper, no outsider reporters, nothing. For all intents and purposes, this town doesn't exist much outside of taxes. The government lets us do what we want for the most part. I oversee this township and make sure things stay in relative order. But I need help doing that, keeping what happened in Remire from happening here."

Byleth frowned. She looked at the mayor but didn't see her.

_Rain lashed against her cheeks, the building collapsing behind her. Someone inside screamed for help before silencing as a large section of roof fell._

_A bullet caught her in the shoulder, sending her down to the ground with the mud and worms. With her good arm, she raised her Pegasi to fire back but the gun clicked empty. A man stood above her, the Cloaked Man. She could only see his grin, that smile with a malicious twist, as he looked down on her._

_He bent down by her and pressed the barrel of his gun to her head, his stale breath hitting her skin. He said something, but the sound of the rain blotted him out. The mud suckered her down, grabbing her and not letting go. _

_Laughter came from the people around the Cloaked Man. They jeered at her, the fallen sheriff, caked in the grime and filth of the wet. _

"Byleth?"

"Sorry, was somewhere else for a second." She flexed her hand, hiding the tremble.

"I'll cut to the chase. Be our sheriff. I'll pay you more than the usual rate. You'll have room and board and I'll even include money for food. Two deputies, Catherine, and one of your choosing. Do this for me, and I'll keep anyone from finding out you're here."

Byleth blinked. That last part sounded too good to be true.

Edelgard saw. "I can't keep who you are from the people here, but no one outside here needs to know. We'll figure something out, maybe a pseudonym." She was desperate. Byleth could see the eagerness she'd hid before. She thought Byleth was about to pull away.

Hiding from the rest of the world. There wouldn't be a better place to do that than Garreg Mach.

"I accept."

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**Author Notes: Hi I've never written a western before so, uh, if this sucks, sorry! I tried keeping people with their canon cadence of speaking while throwing in some western grammatical structure!**

**My plan for this is to kind of be episodic, with this dealing with different characters and adventures each chapter while building to a season finale. But this is a pilot, just to see if people are interested. Maybe I'm fulfilling a niche with this in the fandom, maybe it's just white noise. You tell me. **

**One of my D&D players misremembered a name of a tavern in our game as 'the sloppy bitch' so now you have to suffer with me at that name.**


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